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Warning of earthquake risks in Alpes-Maritimes

The Alpes Maritimes department is a high risk zone for natural disasters (floods, avalanches, ground movements…) which can have drastic consequences for the population. Earthquakes are frequent in this region, although they tend to be of low magnitude and are rarely felt by the population.

But they do pose a genuine risk and the General Council has been addressing the issue of prevention for several years. Information and awareness campaigns have been initiated and the CD-Rom is launched with this in mind. “We cannot compromise the safety of building occupiers, declares Vincent Chéry, Deputy Director of Ecology and Sustainable Development of Alpes Maritimes General Council. The vulnerability of buildings must be reduced as much as possible by repeated awareness messages addressed to all the parties involved.”

Warning to reduce the risks

The tool supplies keys to an understanding of the earthquake risk: the cause of earthquakes and their consequences and prevention… It is a simple teaching aid describing the action to be taken from the planning stage onwards for earthquake resistant construction, allowing for the ground configuration, project architecture, construction members requiring particular attention (foundations, columns/beams, unusual features) etc.

It is intended both for professionals (construction companies, architects, consulting engineers, teachers…) and the general public and is based on the current seismic protection regulations. Designed for use by the maximum number of people, it contains many illustrations, photos of real situations, videos (scientific experiments, earthquake situations, tests) and animations.

An initial run of 1,000 CD-ROMs is currently being distributed to professionals in the Alpes-Maritimes department (building contractor federations, architects’ associations, teaching institutions). The tool will shortly be put on line on the Alpes Maritimes General Council website.